Tragedy strikes as fuel storage facility explodes in Nagorno-Karabakh, killing and injuring those trying to leave for Armenia
A powerful blast went off near the Askeran–Stepanakert highway in Nagorno-Karabakh this evening, where a fuel storage facility exploded, setting a busy gas station ablaze.
According to reports in the Armenian media, an unspecified number of people have either been killed or injured by the explosion. Some were urgently hospitalized with burns.
A legislator in the government of the breakaway Artsakh Republic, established in Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia’s aid, has told an Armenian news outlet that the facility was part of a gas station where ethnic Armenians, who were trying to leave the area, were getting fuel for their journey.
The predominantly ethnic-Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh is threatened with displacement after Baku reasserted its sovereignty in the region and forced the dissolution of Artsakh by launching a military strike on Stepanakert and other parts of the region last week. According to most recent figures, 6,650 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have already arrived in Armenia.
The exact number of victims of today’s tragedy is still unknown, but some media reports suggest that more than 200 people may have been killed or injured. Official sources have not yet confirmed this information.
Eyewitnesses are posting photos and video footage from the scene on the social media.
